


Night Blind

by firedup



Category: Warcraft - All Media Types, World of Warcraft
Genre: Other, War of Thorns, pre-Burning of Teldrassil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-22 22:35:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15592278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firedup/pseuds/firedup
Summary: „Get used ta gettin‘ ya hands bloody. Dis is war.“(Or, my attempt at adding some logic to this shit show. Tell me if I succeeded?)





	Night Blind

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I haven't seen any Nightborne participating in the WoT, but they're technically already part of the Horde and besides, Lledwen just felt right for this. So, I don't care ^^ (And yes, those are 2 "L". Just in case ;) )

„I… don‘t see what this avails us...“.

 

„Mh?“.

 

„All… of this.“. A sweeping hand gesture encompassed the entirety of the bustling war camp, complete with siege engines, a portable smithy, and an impromptu mess tent all competing over which made the loudest racket. Here and there, the corpses of furbolgs were still being dragged away- no doubt some were being served in aforementioned mess tent right now.

 

Zha‘di looked up from his own weapon that he had been cleaning, as he did every day, especially when it had seen so much use as it had today. Gunner wasn‘t the usual occupation for a troll, but Zha‘di loved it.

 

„The war?“.

 

The tall, youngish Nightborne warrior sitting next to him nodded. Freshly joined to the Horde, she had somehow attached herself to Zha‘di, claiming he had saved her life in Suramar. Zha‘di couldn‘t say he remembered saving anyone, but as long as she didn‘t get in his way, he didn‘t mind. Too much.

 

Life outside of the hothouse that had been Suramar city certainly didn‘t come easy to most of the Nightborne. Things that a troll, former mercenary and freelance Horde member, like him, didn‘t even notice, would amaze and discomfit those elves. And he would have put her scruples over going to war with the Kaldorei down to just that, if not…

 

„I know I‘m not exactly experienced in the ways of war, but… do you think the Warchief thought this through?“. Lledwen‘s voice dropped at those last few words. Zha‘di smirked lightly. At least Suramar city had taught the Nightborne when not to speak too loudly.

 

„Pretty sure she gotta be thinkin‘ _somethin_ ‘.“.

 

„That‘s not reassuring.“.

 

Zha‘di snorted. „What ya want me to say? Dis is war, girlie. It‘s us or them. Nothin‘ pretty here. No heroes. Jus‘ butchers. Get used ta gettin‘ those pretty hands of yours dirty `cuz we‘re in a bit too deep to pull back out now.“

 

The elf‘s glowing eyes, wide as a frog‘s, stared back at him. For a few moments, she was dumbfounded; but then she found her words again.

 

„I thought war was about freedom….“. A hand came up to rub at her upper arm. She stared at the ground, only to look back up at the troll‘s hard, bitten-off laugh.

 

„Well, ya wrong then. War‘s about survival. Side that wants to survive more badly wins.“. Zha‘di shrugged as if this was a fact that should have been obvious. It was not obvious to Lledwen.

 

„How is this about survival if it‘s us who attacked first?!“. This time, she actually forgot to keep her voice down and Zha‘di quickly clapped a hand over her mouth. A hard look warned her to keep quiet. She glared back but subsided nonetheless.

 

„Yeah, we attacked first.“, he conceded, slowly withdrawing his hand, then going back to cleaning the barrel of his gun as if nothing had happened. „And do ya know why?“.

 

„Azerite.“. They all knew that. Lledwen tilted her head, regarding the dark-furred troll with some amount of confusion. What was he driving at?

 

„Yeah. Azerite. Powerful stuff. Ya touched it yet?“.

 

She shook her head. No, she hadn‘t been anywhere near the substance as yet. It did not sound like the kind of stuff that would be just handed out to lowly foot soldiers.

 

„Try it, then ya‘ll know why they‘re all crazy over it.“.

 

„So this is it…. Power?“. That sounded… „Makes us sound like the Burning Legion.“.

 

„Ah, no. Ya see… if we don‘t get our hands on the stuff first, the Alliance will.“.

 

„And that‘s…?“.

 

„Shitty for us if it ever happens.“.

 

„You think they would use it to attack us. But… you… we… worked together! We defeated the Legion together!“. She sounded almost desperate now. The troll‘s amber eyes regarded her without the least hint of sympathy for her inner struggle.

 

„The boy king wouldn‘t attack us right away, I give ya that.“, he admitted. „They‘ll just have somethin‘ to hold over our heads.“.

 

A frustrated sigh left the elf‘s lips. She raked her fingers through her hair, tousling the already sweat-soaked and dusty strands even more than they already were. „Would you stop speaking in riddles and start making sense?! Please?“.

 

Zha‘di smirked at her, and in a way she did not like. „If they holdin‘ all that Azerite, and we do somethin‘ they don‘ like, they gonna send us some-“…

 

„I‘m sorry? I thought you just said…?“--

 

...“-in a bomb. Headed straight for Orgrimmar.“.

 

Lledwen‘s open mouth closed, slowly. „Oh….“.

 

„Ya see?“. The troll‘s smirk grew wider, but there was absolutely no humor in it. There were, however, quite a lot of teeth.

 

There was a pause. A destroyer rumbled by. A company of worg riders entered the camp and a fresh flurry of activity arose as mounts were handed over to stablehands and healers swooped down on the soldiers to check for injuries.

 

Then Lledwen spoke up again. „But this way, there will be war, open war...“.

 

„Well… then we better make sure we get all of the Azerite. We‘re in deep, Razorbrow. No backing out of this one, not anymore.“. Zha‘di thrust the gun back into its holster and stood. He looked down on her with his arms crossed. The amber color of his eyes might have lent them some warmth, but it had no chance against the cold finality of his look. And the black of his hair and nearly black of his fur turned him into a shadow among shadows.

 

„Get used ta gettin‘ ya hands bloody. Dis _is_ war.“

 

 

 


End file.
